What's the Difference?

When the Godhead decided to create man, they went to work, if that's the right word, and Adam was the result of their design. Adam was the … first. He was the first of many things. Nothing like him had ever existed before. He was the first, the original; I guess we would say today … the experimental model of things to come.

Of course God didn't need a pre-production model to see how it would work, to run it through some tests and see if He needed to make any changes before going into full production. Even though God looked at His first man and pronounced the completed work to be … "good" … history has proven that this first man and subsequently all those reproduced from him has had an inherent, intrinsic flaw.

No … God didn't make a mistake. What He did was prefect. It has always been man's problem. God gave us a … "free will" … something called choice. The trouble with choice is that it is usually tied very closely to our flesh … what feels good or looks good, we want. And usually … now. We don't want to wait.

Some have said, and maybe rightly so … that never before had "loneliness" existed. This was another first with Adam. So God solved that problem with Eve.

Since nobody really knows when Satan sinned and became a fallen angel … I'm going to say that Adam along with his wife was the first to sin. Yes, I know Eve really sinned first, but only because of taking a bite of the fruit before she offered it to her husband who was … "with her." Because she was a part of Adam, I'm going to lump them together as one. Together they willfully brought sin into the production line of man by choice and the result was the inherent fallen nature we all have today.

By being the first man, Adam had many "firsts" too numerous to try and list all of them. He was the first man to have a son or daughter. That would have made them the first son and first daughter in the production line.

Now here is what I am working toward, where I am headed with all these "firsts."

When you say, "This is my first piece of pie" or "my first born child" … that means there could be a "second" piece of pie or a "second" born child.

I've never been accused of having real intelligence, but I am smart enough not to introduce my wife Peggy as my … "first" wife. Somehow I just don't think that would go over real well. She would say … "Oh, are you planning on having a second wife in the future?" She is my wife, period.

So where am I going with all this? I'm thinking of Jesus.

When you use the term … "the first" … it is leading one to assume there will be a second; more than just the one. This is also true in Adams case. Adam had a fallen nature after he sinned. He failed in what God asked him to do. He was the first man that sinned. Eve was the first woman that sinned.

The Bible states that … "Eve is the mother of all living." Consequently every one born after them became sinners as well … including me.

So now I'm thinking, when you say the … "second" … it doesn't necessarily mean or bring to mind that there is going to be another one later. It only means this second one was not the first one, it came after the first one. But just in case you think it does mean perhaps more, Paul ends any speculation about Jesus when he adds the term … "the last Adam."

The Apostle Paul correctly calls Adam the first man. But he calls Jesus the second or last Adam. Why? There will be no other.

1st Corinthians 15:45 & 47 … "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven."

Jesus is called "the last Adam" … meaning there shall be no other after Him who will affect the destiny of man the way both, the first Adam and the last Adam did. The first Adam caused the fall; the second and last Adam redeemed man from the fall.

Jesus becomes the "second" Adam and fulfills the covenant that the first Adam could not keep. What the first Adam could not do, the man Jesus, the "last" Adam did. Jesus willingly became the second Adam to fulfill the Law, and satisfy the justice of God. Jesus was the first to do that and will be the last to do it.

The sacrifice of Christ will never be repeated; Christ will die no more. His blood will not be shed again, nor His sacrifice reiterated; nor will any other sacrifice be offered … ever.

There will be … no other Saviour.

What's the difference … between the first and the second?

Eternity.

Cremation

I have been asked many times if we as Christians should cremate those who die, or bury them in the ground? Does it matter? Are there reasons for interment in a grave? Does God have a preference in this matter?

In this short discourse, I will try to answer this question that is being asked more all the time. To find the answers to these questions, we must turn to the book that is our guide to life's questions … the Bible.

The first time God speaks about this subject is when He tells Abraham in Genesis 15:15 "… you shall be buried at a good old age." (Buried not cremated.)

Some other verses where God's people were buried …

Old Testament …

Gen. 23:19 "… Abraham buried Sarah his wife …"

Gen. 25:9 "… his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him (Abraham) …"

Gen. 35:19 "…Rachel died and was buried …"

Gen. 35:29 "… Isaac died … his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."

Gen. 50:25 "… Joseph died … and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt …"

Joshua 24:32 "… the bones of Joseph … they buried them in Shechem …"

Judges 8:32 "Gideon died and was buried …" (All of the judges in this book were buried when they died … not one of them was ever cremated.)

1st Samuel 31:13 "… they took their bones (Saul and his sons) and buried them under a tree …"

2nd Samuel 2:5 "… David said … May the Lord bless you because you showed kindness to Saul … and buried him."

2nd Samuel 21:12-14 "… David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan … and buried them … and after that God heard and answered when His people prayed …"

2nd Kings 13:20-21 "… Elisha died, and they buried him … And when the man being let down (buried) touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet." (What if Elisha would have been cremated and his ashes blown by the wind all over who knows where?)

Note … 2nd Kings 23:16 (King Josiah) "… brought the bones out of the tombs and burned (cremated) them on the altar and defiled it …" (I don't know why, but it's in the book for a reason.)

Jeremiah 8:1-2, 16:4-6, and 25:33 … God tells His prophet that the "evil and unrighteous" in the land will not be buried but will be scattered on the ground like dung. (Isn't this just the opposite of how God's chosen have been buried?)

Ezekiel 37:1-10 … "The valley of dry bones." How could God show this prophesy if believers were cremated … there wouldn't be any bones left.

New Testament …

Luke 16:19-21 … Jesus said that Lazarus and a rich man died and was buried.

Romans 6:4 "… buried with Him in baptism …" (Symbolic of death.)

1st Corinthians 15:4 "… That He (Jesus) was buried … and He arose …"
(Isn't Jesus supposed to be our example … therefore we also should come out of the grave, which will only happen if we are buried.)

Hebrews 11:22 "… Joseph gave instruction concerning the burial of his own bones." (As if there might have been a right and proper way.)

I have saved for last perhaps the best reason why I believe a Christian should be buried and not cremated; and that is found in Deuteronomy 14:5-6 "… Moses died and He (God) buried him." (God could have burned Moses to a crispy critter, but He didn't … He buried him.)

Christians believe in the resurrection of the dead when Jesus comes back … from the east … which is the reason all headstones on graves face that direction. When they set up in those graves, they will see Jesus as He comes.

I think burial, (instead of cremation) shows our belief in the return of Jesus and our resurrection from the dead.

But that's just … my opinion.

Now let's look at cremation … what it is and what it could possibly represent.

The word … "Cremation" comes from the Latin word … "cremo" which means "to burn."

Cremation has always been associated with pagan religions, like the pagan societies of Greece and Rome …which is the reason the early Christian Church rejected cremation as the preferred way to dispose of those who died.

Ancient Israel also had rejected cremation for their people, preferring to use tombs or graves for burial. The burning of bodies was reserved for idols, criminals, and enemies.

The first crematory in America was built in 1876 in Washington, D.C. Cremation is becoming more popular in the United States every year. In 1999 … 600,000 cremations were performed, which amounted to 25% of disposals in the United States.

Could the increase in numbers be partly because, as a nation we are becoming more … "pagan" … then ever before?

If Israel reserved burning bodies only for their enemies; and God has reserved the Lake of Fire for … "burning" … His enemies, the unsaved; then why would we choose cremation, which is … "symbolic of burning in Hell" … as our preferred way of putting away our loved ones?

You may ask, what about those who are burned up in a car wreck, house fire or vaporized in war. These are sometimes unavoidable … things do happen beyond our control. That's different … we did not willingly choose them.

When we have the option to choose … and we choose cremation … I wonder if we really are doing the will of God … but that's just my opinion.

Is cremation … sin? Probably not. Although I really don't know.

It's just cheaper.


All quotes … Amplified Bible

Mom's Poem

Mom went home to be with the Lord some time back. I guess it must have been a couple of years ago by now. Time goes by so quickly … and faster the older you get.

I found this poem stuck away in her old worn out study Bible. It wasn't really what you would call a study Bible … but did she ever study each and every word in it. She knew most of them. She lived them by the help and grace of God.

I have no idea who wrote this little poem, but it must have meant something to her if she kept it all these years. It looks really old as the paper it was printed on was real brown looking from age.

I am sure that Mom prayed the last line for her family each and every day of her life right up to the end. Now she is with Jesus.


I Said Today

I said a prayer for you today and know God must have heard,
I felt the answer in my heart, although He spoke no word.
I didn't ask for wealth or fame, I knew you wouldn't mind.
I asked Him to send treasures of a far more lasting kind.
I asked that He'd be near you at the start of each new day,
To grant you health and blessings and friends to share your way.
I asked for happiness for you in all things great and small,
But it was for His loving care I prayed the most of all.

Questioning Yourself

This is a little different than what I normally post.

This is just an e-mail someone else sent to a friend and the response she received back. I was forwarded these e-mails from a third party and after reading them I thought they were worth sharing.

I was sure I wasn't alone in experiencing … "failure in prayer" … even when following what was thought to be "God's Will." I have shared some of my failures before on this blog. Open and honest … that's what you get with me.

I don't believe you will have any problem understanding the situation this first young lady found herself in after obediently following what she felt was the "Will of the Lord."

These are two young women who grew up together. I know them both. Now years later, as believers each wants God to use them to minister in any way they can. These two friends live in different states and seldom get to see each other anymore. So they share their feelings, questions, doubts and needs with each other through e-mails.

So, open your heart, hear the intent of what is being said. Maybe we can all learn something about life and feel better about some of our own "failures in prayer" from what is shared in not only the first e-mail, but also by what is said in return.
............................

"Hi, I want to share something with you that happened to me recently. It has to do with praying for someone else to be healed. Because of this situation I have been spiritually dormant for a few months, but lately it keeps coming up in my mind.

I have a very dear friend, my age, whose husband was dying of cancer. Healing has always been the one area I would never touch. Too afraid of failure? Other spiritual failures, you can hide or fake your way thru, but not healing. Everyone knows if someone doesn't get healed when you pray for them. It's a combination of pride and doubt in myself.

So of course, what did God call me to do? Nothing less than to lay hands on my friend's husband as he lay on his death bed in the final stages of cancer. Talk about jumping in with both feet into cold water!

The Lord built me up over several weeks leading up to it. He put very purposed scripture in front of me, woke me in the night with specific messages, placed books in front of me, sermons, etc. It all pointed to the same thing … I had no doubt in my mind. God was going to raise this man up in front of our eyes!

When fear crept in, He pointed me to the scripture of Jesus in the boat when He said, O you of little faith! It was like … Okay God, I hear you. Send me … I will go. And I went.

His wife was there when I walked in … and she knew I was there to pray. It was very overwhelming. He has three little girls. His wife does not work. No life insurance.

First of all … I have never really looked cancer in the face before. I walked in and just literally fell to my knees. I prayed like I have never prayed in my life. I lifted my shaking hands and just began to praise Him and declare who He IS. The great I AM. I got up; armed with the scriptures He had given me … I laid hands on him.

I prayed, I confessed, I declared, I prayed in the spirit. I did it ALL. Nothing. Quiet. Nothing. His wife just looked at me. Nothing. I left that hospital so defeated, beaten down, questioning God, questioning Jesus, feeling abandoned, lied to, set up … it was ugly.

I went into a depression and stayed that way for several days. I would wake in the night crying. I have never felt so abandoned by God.

I now know thru lots of seeking God and His healing that this thing is not over yet. Yes, my friend died, and now his wife is dealing with her own anger with God, but I know God had me to do all that for a reason. I still don't know what it is, but I still feel that same tugging in my heart that there's a big lesson He has yet to reveal in all that happened.

I went, out of obedience and I … Did it afraid. Will I have the courage to go the next time He calls me? I don't know and that frightens me. I still want to be able to say, Here am I, send me. Was my faith in myself? I really hadn't thought it was.

I had heard the voice of the Lord and I am still convinced of that … but why He didn't show … I may never understand.

I still trust Him and I know that He is good. I have felt a call on my life to do the deep spiritual things of God, as in operating in the gifts, but I'm very much still learning and in the early stages of stepping out … even when … overtaken by fear."

The return reply …

"You know in reading your e-mail, first I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. It is very tragic anytime someone succumbs to sickness, and young too. I will keep your friend in my prayers.

As for you, I applaude you for stepping out in faith and praying for your friend. You did not surrender to the fear that the devil was putting all over you because he knew there was a chance for a miracle.

Jesus paid the price for our healing at the cross, & miracles of healing are given to us to demonstrate God's power. However it doesn't mean that good Christian men and women don't get sick and die before their time. It does not necessarily mean that they have sinned or that they didn't have enough faith. It just means that they have received their ultimate healing in heaven, where there are no more tears and no more pain, no more sorrow or suffering.

Do you think it's useless to pray for a miracle since God has a sovereign will and maybe you're going to be one of those who do not get healed? Is God playing some sort of a Russian roulette game with your life? It is not always our privilege to know why or how God does or does not do certain things in certain ways. God is not accountable to you or me.

We do know that God and His Word are unchangeable. We do know that He still works miracles. We also know that … "it is appointed unto man once to die." (Heb. 9:27)

With that being said … do not think that you went there to just pray for your sick friend and nothing happened. God met you there. He was there before you arrived and He was there while you prayed and He was still there when you left that day.

Do I believe in miracles? ABSOLUTELY! Just because you didn't see a miracle that day in his healing does not mean that God wasn't working a miracle. Your friend received his healing in heaven … that may have been God's plan. I do believe that there is still a miracle here.

Have we seen all of the things that God intends in this situation … probably not.

But what I do know is that you have a calling on your life to be an intercessor, one who can stand in the gap and pray, one who has the faith to lay hands on the sick, and the weak, the weary. You are obviously feeling it and hearing it.

Will you see it all the time? No. Will it be obvious miracles each and every time? No. We praise Him when we see them and praise Him when we don't. If we saw miracles all the time we would just take him for granted knowing that He will heal us or deliver us.

Do not by any means feel like a failure. The devil wants you to believe that because you didn't receive the miracle you were asking for, that you failed.

You absolutely did not!

You did exactly what God wanted you to do. He is opening the door for you with your friend's wife. Keep that communication open. I feel you are going to still see miracles through your act of faith. God is definitely not predictable and He works His plans, in His time and through His means. Don't doubt … step out and keep diving in with both feet!"


Content edited … used by permission.